Disney classic Dumbo to be remade as live-action film

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Disney has confirmed Tim Burton as the surprise choice to direct the studio’s forthcoming live action remake of Dumbo, the 1941 animation about a baby elephant with ears so large he can fly.

Burton, who kicked off Disney’s current fascination for reviving its own animated back catalogue with 2010’s $1bn Alice in Wonderland, will work from a screenplay by Transformers: Dark of the Moon’s Ehren Kruger. The film remains in an early stage of production but is expected to once again combine CGI and live action. Kruger’s script is said to add a unique family story that parallels Dumbo’s journey, and an expansion of the original narrative appears vital given that the original animation is just 60 minutes long.

Dumbo tells the story of a young circus elephant named Jumbo Jr who is teased for having large ears, earning him the cruel titular nickname, until he learns to fly by using them as wings. The film won an Oscar for best scoring of a musical picture and was nominated for best original song for Baby Mine, but has been criticised in modern times for its use of racial stereotypes in its depiction of a gang of jive-talking crows.

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Burton’s appointment was confirmed to the Wall Street Journal by Disney president of production Sean Bailey. The director of Beetlejuice and Sleepy Hollow is known for his eccentric tales of gothic camp, but has become a Disney favourite. Dumbo’s big-top setting may have proven attractive: the film-maker has used circus motifs in a number of his movies, including the Red Triangle Circus Gang in superhero sequel Batman Returns and the Calloway Circus in Big Fish.

Since the success of Alice in Wonderland, Disney has enjoyed box office hits with fairytale adaptations Oz the Great and Powerful (a prequel to The Wizard of Oz) and last year’s Maleficent. Next up is Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella, which is due in US cinemas this weekend and arrives in the UK on 27 March. The studio will also release live action takes on The Jungle Book and Through the Looking Glass (with Burton returning to direct the Alice in Wonderland sequel) next year and plans to debut Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, in 2017.